1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of animal waste disposal. In particular, the present invention is directed towards a convertible enclosed box structure containing several features allowing the storage and shipment of the litter within the box until needed. Converting the box from its closed form to its open form, permits the animal to use the litter until it is deemed necessary to dispose of the unit. The present invention is then converted back to its original closed form to be disposed of and replaced with another unit of the present invention.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Animal waste disposal for house hold pets, particularly cats and small dogs has been a sanitation and convenience problem for which a number of solutions has been sought. The most common solution to the above problem is utilization of plastic open containers with typical dimensions of one foot by one and a half feet by two to five inches filled with water and odor absorbent materials such as clay, wood chips, or shredded paper. The above containers were place in the house for animals to use until the absorbent material would be deemed unable to absorb fluids and odors any more. The container at this stage is normally emptied of its contents and washed so that it can be filled with fresh absorbent material. Movement of the animals in and out of the container and their digging action in the container usually causes the contaminated absorbent material to transfer outside of the container. Also emptying and washing the container involves human contact with the contaminated absorbent material. Both of the actions above can cause diseases or allergies in humans and contribute to health problems in pregnant women. The used absorbent material in some cases is not disposed of on time due to lack of attention on the pet owners part or their reluctance to proceed with the action of emptying and washing the container. Animals are forced to continue using the same used litter which is a health hazard to them or they seek other places in the house to be used as their litter area.
A number of solutions to the above problems have been sought in part by design of disposable animal or cat litter boxes. These designs form a large variety of devices in the art of disposable litter containers, and they include devices disclosed in the following listed U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,154,052, 4,441,451, 3,377,990, 4,501,226, 3,684,155, 4,541,360, 3,743,170, 4,548,160, 4,014,292, 4,627,382, 4,164,314, 4,628,863, 4,271,787, 4,646,685, 4,305,544, 4,648,349.
The above devices share some common features which presented improvements over the original plastic litter container. However they still have potential for improvements. These designs do not feature a closed or contained top, leaving the contaminated litter exposed to free flow of air, direct sunshine, and are accessible to young children. There is no evidence of attempts to cover the unsightly contaminated litter from direct vision. They also require that the litter is provided and poured into them separately, which is not a convenient feature. The above mentioned typically employ sophisticated or complicated production techniques for their production, in some cases this feature proves to be cost prohibitive.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,982 provides an improved solution to the above problems, yet it does not convert to a closed, easy to transport and disposal form.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,198 employs a plastic liner and a plastic carrying handle which are not biodegradable, it also is an open top container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,300 provides a good solution to the above problem, yet non-biodegradable parts and complicated production techniques make it costly and less desirable for the land fills.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,935 utilizes a non-biodegradable plastic bag, and it is too confining for most animals, yet it is an improvement over the previously mentioned designs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,006 presents an open top container with variable height of litter. This height can be too shallow and allows the litter to be poured out of the container by the animal during the digging action, too deep so that some younger cats hesitate to use it. The individual layers of litter are not enclosed for disposal. This device also uses more corrugated board than most of other disposable animal litter box designs encountered.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,527 presents an improved solution to the mentioned problems, yet it employs complicated construction and assembly techniques, provides only one entry hole, and does not offer a carrying handle which can be used while the container is in the open form.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,082 is another improvement, however, it lacks a carrying handle, and offers only one opening for the animal. Experiments show that contaminated litter can leak out of the container through seam between front wall and side wall (3 and 2 in FIG. 2 of the disclosed patent). This design wall (3 and 2 in does not efficiently utilize the original corrugated blank from which FIG. 2 is cut.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,091 produces even more non-biodegradable material than the above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,935. Beside the plastic bag, supports 43 and 44 are required to be made out of plastic or similar material, which contribute to higher production costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,104 is another efficient approach to the above problems. It utilizes the original corrugated blank more efficiently, thereby reducing production costs, and does not call for plastic parts. This design offers only one entry hole for the animal, and the shape of the roof is too confining for most cats making it difficult for them to assume squatting position. No carrying handle is provided by this device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,360 shares some common features with U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,091 and 4,788,935 and therefore imposes the same problems of non-biodegradability, higher production costs and difficulty of transportation due to lack of a carrying handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,016 suggests a more sophisticated solution to the above problems than most of the above patents. However, because the bottom of the container is not solid and is formed out of four folding flaps, the litter may leak out while being used by the animal. Flap 110 in the accompanying drawings suggests application of adhesives for manufacturing, this step may complicate production especially when combined with adhering the bottom flaps together. The design provides only one opening for entrance and exit of the animal, possibly making it experience confinement. Openings 80 and 82 may not be used to pick the container up for transportation since tabs 35, 37, 46, and 44 are not designed to support tension loads caused by the weight of the litter in the container. Moreover the possibility of litter leakage through the seams formed by side panels and front or back panels is not eliminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,217 approaches the above problems in part similar to U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,016 with the exception of a carrying handle. Panels 26, 30, 34, and 38 in the accompanying drawings present a stability problem, since there are no attachment provisions to part number 52, there is a possibility of container collapse while being used by the animal.
U.S Pat. No. 5,014,649 presents a number of improvements over the previously encountered designs by utilization of two corrugated panels to form the floor of the container, and thereby reducing the possibility of litter leakage. Still the entrance and exit door provided on the side panel of the container does not ease the access of the animal to the litter box. Moreover only one access door is provided. The design does not provide any lifting handles for transportation. This design also calls for application of adhesives for attachment of bottom panels as well as the top cover, hence increasing the production cost and complexity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,457 addresses the problem with perhaps one of the best solutions in the patents studied. Application of only one corrugated board to build this device results in a single layered container floor construction which offers less resistance to moisture and loads with respect to an equivalent double layer construction. The said design also requires the end user to construct the container, and therefore making itself less convenient to utilize. The said device does not collapse to a closed form for ease of disposal, a feature which is almost a requirement if the end user resides in an apartment or where trash disposal containers are shares by many other residents.
Consequently, there is a need for a disposable pet litter container which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, made wholly out of biodegradable corrugated material, with a double layer floor construction, more efficient seals, one that does not require large shipping space by having a small volume while not in use, one that features a carrying handle so that it can be easily used by people on automobile trips, one that is not too complicated to assemble and use, and easy to convert back to its original position for easy disposal.